Hispanic pharmacy students' perspectives on institutional policies requiring certified Spanish interpreters: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND

Despite increasing reliance on interpreter services, little is known about how bilingual pharmacy trainees experience interpreter-only policies.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored Hispanic pharmacy students' experiences and perspectives regarding institutional policies that require the exclusive use of certified interpreters when communicating with Spanish-speaking patients.

METHODS

This qualitative study used one-on-one, semi-structured interviews with Hispanic pharmacy students who self-identified as native Spanish speakers. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling at a U.S. school of pharmacy. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis with constant comparison until thematic saturation was achieved.

RESULTS

Ten pharmacy students most of whom were in third-year of pharmacy school (70.0%) participated. Eight themes emerged: (1) language concordance as relational and culturally situated care; (2) interpreter use as both a safety tool and a barrier to natural communication; (3) workflow and efficiency costs of interpreter-mediated encounters; (4) certification requirements perceived as structurally misaligned with native proficiency; (5) bilingual identity, professional fulfillment, and moral distress; (6) cultural brokerage beyond literal interpretation; (7) perceived hierarchies of language authority and interpreter policies as hidden curriculum; and (8) proposed pathways toward equity-informed policy reform. Participants described language concordance as central to trust, engagement, and culturally responsive care, while interpreter-only policies were perceived as introducing workflow challenges and limiting professional agency for bilingual students.

CONCLUSION

Hispanic pharmacy students who are native Spanish speakers viewed language concordance as integral to equitable, patient-centered pharmacy practice. Although certified interpreters remain critical for patient safety, rigid interpreter-only policies may unintentionally constrain communication quality, workflow efficiency, and professional identity development when bilingual providers are available. Pharmacy educators and health systems should consider competency-informed, equity-focused approaches that better integrate bilingual skills into pharmacy education and practice.